obituaries
Ann Baldacchini, née Dukes (1946) Ann died in May 2019 in the USA. Her daughter Cindy wrote ‘she would have been thrilled to be included in the Old Girls’ magazine’. Ann had been at the School when King George & Queen Elizabeth visited in 1946 and the Queen stopped to ask about her plans upon leaving.
Elizabeth Joyce Blackmore, née Brown (Alexandra 1948) Elizabeth’s daughter Sandie contacted the School to say ‘Our mum sadly passed away aged 88 on Friday 27 March 2020. She talked often about her times at school and it was obvious she was very proud of attending the RMSG.’
During Elizabeth’s time as a pupil, she particularly recalled the visit (above) of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1946. However this was remembered more for the fact that she was in the Sanatorium and unable to be with the rest of the School – ‘She was naturally very disappointed!’ Elizabeth left school in 1948 and secured a clerical post in Cardiff. At a friend’s party a few years later she met Kenneth Blackmore and they married in 1955. Together they raised five children. ‘Mum was known for her cooking skills, although there were a few memorable disasters such as the Christmas cake. She made the icing herself and it was so hard that even Dad couldn’t cut through it. We ended up taking the icing off in one piece like a giant hat and were left with a marzipan covered cake. It was still delicious as she was very good at cakes.’ Elizabeth’s children have picked up many skills from her such as sewing, knitting and being creative. ‘We were always clothed and fed and never bored as we had always been encouraged to use our imaginations and to be busy.’ Elizabeth was always a cheerful person who looked on the bright side of life, listened well, never judged and was always a willing helper of others and, whilst not one for a lot of make-up, ‘a bit of lippy was essential and she would always have it with her to reapply when necessary.’ In the last week of her life, her family reminisced with her about her school days and ‘we are sure that the opportunity to reminisce made her happy.’ Her daughter requested a prayer be said in the Chapel for her as ‘it would mean a lot to us and to her.’
36 | Masonica 2021
Marion Pamela Bourner, née Perry (Ruspini 1952) Anne Palmer-Hall contacted the School to inform of the death of Marion Bourner in 2019. Marion joined the School in Form II2 in 1948 from Ordnance County Modern School, Chatham. Her father had died in 1944 very shortly after arriving home from India where Marion and her mother had also lived. He had been a foreman at the Chatham dockyard. Her school record indicates that her performance at school was satisfactory and that she had been a member of the Guides. Perhaps because she joined the School when already 13, her participation was more subdued as there is very little information about her. She left in 1952 and became a clerk with National Benzole Co, Buckingham Gate and then, in 1956, had a post with Thomas de la Rue, Regent St. We are perhaps less familiar with this company but we all know and use something that they developed – the ATM. In 1958, she married Ronald Bourner and she remained a member of OMGA throughout her life without playing an active part in it.
